We discuss strategic renewal from a competence perspective. We argue that the
management of speed and timing in this process is viewed distinctively when perceived
through a cognitive lens. Managers need more firmly grounded process-understanding. The
key idea of this paper is to dynamically conceptualize key activities of strategic renewal, and
possible sources of break-down as they relate to the managment of speed and timing. Based
on a case from the media industry, we identify managerial trade-offs and show how these
can be influenced through managing subjective perception, strategic involvement and
external knowledge-sourcing.